While Apple’s iPad and Samsung’s Galaxy Tab have been all over the news, several competing hardware manufacturers are working tirelessly to get their own offerings onto the market. One such company is Research in Motion (RIM) of BlackBerry smartphone fame.

If you’ve been with us for a while you probably remember that RIM is preparing their own tablet dubbed the BlackBerry PlayBook which will be running a unique operating system (called BlackBerry Tablet OS) and will feature things like a 7-inch screen 1GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, an HD webcam and more. While we’ve heard of the PlayBook a good deal, we’ve yet to get official confirmation as to when the tablet will actually be hitting store shelves or how it will compete against some of its hardest hitting competitors.

Well today we are proud to tell you that a video has hit the web of a RIM employee comparing the BlackBerry PlayBook against Apple’s iPad. In the video, he shows that the BlackBerry PlayBook’s web browser loads pages much faster than the iPads – in some cases even finishing before the iPad began.

It’s not often that an app makes me itch. However that’s exactly what using Bedbugs ‘n Things did within seconds of me using it. Knowledge is power though and that’s exactly what this app offers.

From this one app you can check out everything possible about your enemies, namely bedbugs, fleas, mosquitoes, ticks, head lice and more. You can look at photos so you know what you’re looking for, read up on their general appearance and habits, and be told how to track them down. If you’re unlucky enough to be bitten by something, you can then look up information on what each bite type looks like and what kind of reaction to expect. It’s all really rather useful information even if it does make me itch reading about it.

Besides offering information on how to spot the evil little things, there’s also plenty of information on how to treat bites and how to deal with getting rid of such pests in your house too. Finally, for those people who are regularly on the move, there are also many tips and tricks for how to be careful in hotels and while travelling. There’s even a bug report section where people can submit their own information of their experiences of each hotel they attend around the world. This is admittedly not yet as useful as it could be. During my research, I found hardly any hotels actually listed. It also would have been great to have had some sort of GPS functionality so that you could home in on hotels nearest to your current location.

Despite the somewhat poor bug report feature, Bedbugs ‘n Things does feel quite useful as an informative tool. I learnt quite a lot about the various parasites that can affect me on my travels. While it is information that could be googled, it’s handy to have it all in one central place. Crucially, a central place that doesn’t require a constant internet connection which is very handy if you want to avoid roaming charges abroad.

Bedbugs ‘n Things is a useful little tool for those who travel frequently. Just remember that it might take you a while to stop scratching and obsessively staring at every single black speck on the floor.

[ Bedbugs ‘n Things Review is a post from 148Apps ]